We brace ourselves for the heat every morning before heading out for a walk (and pause to say a few curse words under our breaths when the humidity sinks into our hair), but really, we shouldn’t. It’s going going gone much too soon.

My fresh berry habit each day has reached an all-time high because they’re just SO GOOD this year. The blackberries have been addicting, the raspberries plump, and the strawberries juicy. What a time to be ALIVE, PEOPLE!

Baby Camille (I will call her that until she’s 43) has been eating all the berries, too! I’m one of those hippie Mamas that believes in using food as medicine, and since strawberries have natural aspirin in them, I’m piling her snack cup with strawberries during this Time Of Teething. (T.O.T. is what we call it, and someone please tell me when it will end. And does it keep getting worse? Molars are bigger than front teeth. And I’m scared).

But the good news is that Camille still doesn’t eat desserts, so I am free to douse them with booze. It’s how I personally deal with the T.O.T., if you know what I mean.

These strawberry shortcake bars solve almost all of the problems in our life right now.

But let’s not forget booze’s role, heh.

Steps to make strawberry shortcake bars:

I made a shortbread base in a bread loaf pan, topped it with a thick layer of sweetened cream cheese, and placed the prettiest little strawberries on top that I soaked in Pimm’s. Have you had Pimm’s? It’s this fruity, herby drink that goes great with summertime. I like to muddle strawberries with Pimm’s in cocktails, so I added it to my bowl of strawberries on a whim. As evident by the excessive finger licking during the assembly of the dessert, I can attest it was not a bad choice.

Strawberry bars

You can adapt this recipe to your own taste by mixing up the flavors a bit. If you don’t have Pimm’s, orange zest and strawberries play together nicely enough that you won’t even miss it.

Make this your own strawberry shortcake bars recipe by flavoring the cream cheese with orange zest, vanilla bean, anything you like. And as for the booze, vary it according to your taste in booze. I have a feeling sparkling wine would play nicely here.

I make these small batch strawberry shortcake bars in a bread loaf to pan to make 2 generous (or 4 normal) servings. This is the exact loaf pan that I use and love.

Yield: 2 bars

Strawberry Shortcake Bars

Strawberry shortcake bars with whipped cream cheese frosting.

Prep Time1 minute

Cook Time25 minutes

Total Time26 minutes

Ingredients

For the shortbread base:

7 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup powdered sugar

3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

For the topping:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon powdered sugar, divided use

3 tablespoons Pimm's, divided use

8-9 Driscoll's strawberries

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350.

Line a 9x5" bread loaf pan with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the shortbread: butter, powdered sugar, flour and salt. Work the butter into the dough using a pastry blender, two knives, or your finger tips. The butter should be well-incorporated and the size of rice grains.

Press the dough into the bread loaf pan (use extra flour if its sticky!)

Bake for 25 minutes, until fragrant and golden brown around the edges.

Let cool completely.

Meanwhile, beat together the cream cheese, 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar and 1 1/2 tablespoons of the Pimm's in a small bowl.

Hull, and slice the strawberries. Toss in a bowl with the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons Pimm's and 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar.

Frost the bars with the cream cheese, decorate with strawberries, slice in half and serve.

About me

Christina Lane is the author of 3 cookbooks all about cooking and baking for two. She has scaled down hundreds of recipes into smaller servings so you can enjoy your favorite dishes without the leftovers! Valentine's Day is her favorite holiday.

Yes the berries this year have been amazing! Our 1 1/2 year old can’t get enough blueberries and red grapes, and every single package of them has been SO delicious! I’ve been wanting some strawberry shortcake since summer started, this looks perfect! :)

These look amazing!!! Too bad I could never make this because the girls pull their stools over to the fridge and eat all the berries in there while I am taking a shower. It’s super cute until I want some to snack on;)
Oh and the k9 teeth are the WORST! Which is ironic because they are the sharpest and you would think the easiest to come through! Nope, absolutely the worst teeth to come in ever!
Good luck!!

My OB/GYN told us to pour a shot glass of bourbon, dip a fingertip into the bourbon, and rub it on the gums where the tooth/teeth are coming in. It numbs the area so the baby can sleep. Then give the shot glass to Dad to drink and he will sleep, too! WIN-WIN!

Christina these look so beautiful and flavorful. You’re so funny! Teething is nothing, just wait each and every stage will brings tears of joy and times when you want to rip your hair out and theirs but you won’t. When she’s all grown up and graduating from college or wearing a wedding dress you’ll wonder where all the tiMe has gone. It’s bittersweet!

Savor each and every moment and load her up with all those beautiful berries so she grows up to be healthy and beautiful like her mom.

Thanks for sharing this recipe, Christina. A new twist of Strawberry Shortcake! I love the idea of making the shortcake in a loaf pan….perfect for two, but plenty for one if you don’t want to share! :) One suggestion, though: instead of just a top-shot photo of the shortcake, I would have loved to see a pic (or two of the shortcake on serving a serving dish (just to see the layers of shortcake, cream cheese and berries from a side view.)

I was looking for something simple to do with some blackberries I just bought at a roadside stand. This was perfect. I added 1/2 tsp. vanilla to the cream cheese and only 1/4 c. powdered sugar, but I added extra sugar to the blackberries. I smashed half of the black berries into a syrup with the sugar(put through a sieve or you’ll get icky lumps) tossed in the rest of the berries, and poured it on top. I made for Mom and I to share with our afternoon coffee, and we both agreed it was a great combination flavors. The shortbread base makes the recipe. Thanks

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